The White House has rejected an appeal from two prominent Senate Republicans for a new approach to the Iraq war. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the senators want the president to draft a revised war plan.

President Bush has used his weekly radio address to defend his administration's strategy in Iraq, after a report this week delivered a mixed assessment of the country's military and political progress.

Condoleezza Rice, The U.S. Secretary of State says the Iraqi government has not made as much progress as U.S. officials would like, but has urged congressional critics to give the Bush administration's Iraq strategy more time.

As early as today, the White House is to issue an interim report on the Iraqi government's progress in meeting goals set by the U.S. Congress. The report will say how the government has performed on 18 security and political benchmarks.

U.S. President George W. Bush has rejected calls by a number of U.S. lawmakers for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, saying more time is needed to make the current troop buildup work.

Administration officials say President Bush plans to assure Americans that he wants to begin bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq eventually.

Majority Democrats are vowing to go ahead with plans for a new legislative push to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq after Congress returns next month from a week-long break. House and Senate Democratic leaders met with reporters as lawmakers began the July 4th Independence Day break.

A senior Republican and a strong supporter of U.S. President George W. Bush says the U.S. strategy in Iraq is not working and that the United States should downsize the military's role.

U.S. President George W. Bush urged stronger UN sanctions against Iran after a new report revealed that Tehran has been greatly increasing uranium enrichment.

The U.S. Senate has rejected a measure that would end funding for U.S. combat operations in Iraq by April 1 of next year. The White House praised the vote, but some Senate Democrats say support is building for the effort to limit funding for the unpopular war.

For the past six years, President Bush has enjoyed strong support from Republicans in Congress for his domestic and foreign policy agendas. But divisions over the war in Iraq are beginning to strain that political alliance. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

President Bush is receiving a closed-door briefing from senior military officials at the Pentagon Thursday on the situation in Iraq. The meeting takes place one day after a group of moderate congressional Republicans had what is being described as an unusually "blunt" discussion on Iraq with Mr. Bush and his senior aides at the White House.